Absorbent article, such as a diaper or an incontinence guard

ABSTRACT

An absorbent article includes a front part, a rear part and an intermediate crotch part and also an absorbent body enclosed between the outer liquid-impermeable casing sheet and an inner liquid-permeable casing sheet, and longitudinal flaps located on respective sides of the longitudinal symmetry axis of the article and that extend transversely in towards the axis, and further including longitudinal elastic elements which extend along those edges of the flaps that face toward the longitudinal symmetry axis. The absorbent body is divided into a central part and two side parts at least in the crotch part by folding indications which are located on respective sides of the longitudinal symmetry axis in front and rear sections and which diverge relative to one another up to the side edges of the absorbent body. The side flaps are joined to the outer casing sheet along its longitudinal edges; and each of the side flaps extends from a point in the crotch part on the inside of the article inwardly toward the longitudinal symmetry axis (AA) while decreasing in distance from the axis towards the front part and the rear part respectively up to a point in respective front and rear parts.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This is the 35 USC 371 national stage of international applicationPCT/SE98/00233 filed on Feb. 11, 1998, which designated the UnitedStates of America.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to an absorbent article, such as a diaperor an incontinence guard, having a front-part, a rear-part and anintermediate crotch-part and including an absorbent body enclosedbetween an outer, liquid-impermeable casing sheet and an innerliquid-permeable casing sheet and longitudinally extending flaps locatedon respective sides of the longitudinal, symmetry axis of the articleand extending transversely to said axis and comprising longitudinallyextending elastic elements that extend along those edges of the flapsthat face towards said longitudinal symmetry axis, wherein the absorbentbody is divided into a central part and two side-parts by means offolding indications at least in the crotch part of said article, whereinsaid folding indications extend mutually divergently to the side-edgesof the absorbent body on respective sides of the longitudinal symmetryaxis of said article in front and rear sections thereof.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

An absorbent article of this kind is known from SE-C2-502 548. Thepurpose of the longitudinally extending side-flaps is to impede thelateral flow of urine along the inner casing sheet of the article, andto prevent the wearer's skin coming into contact with excretement.Because the absorbent body is curved by virtue of the contraction of theelastic threads that extend along the edges of the flaps, a collectingvolume is formed between the inner casing sheet and the inner surfacesof the flaps.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The object of the present invention is to increase this collectingvolume to reduce the risk of lateral leakage when a person wearing theabsorbent article lies on his/her side, and to reduce the risk of theside-flaps blocking the entrance of said collecting volume.

These objects are achieved in accordance with the invention by means ofan absorbent article of the aforedescribed kind that is characterized inthat the side-flaps are joined to the outer casing sheet along itslongitudinal edges, and in that each of the side-flaps extends from apoint in the crotch-part on the inside of said article, inwardly towardsthe longitudinal symmetry axis of said article at a distance from thelongitudinal symmetry axis which decreases successively in a directiontowards the front-part and rear-part respectively, up to a point in saidfront and said rear parts. Because the flaps extend right up to theside-edges of the outer casing sheet, the collecting volume isconsiderably increased. This collecting volume will be largest withinthose regions to which liquid will run when the person wearing thearticle lies on his/her side. The fact that the flaps are narrowest inthe crotch-part eliminates the risk of the flaps blocking said entrance,while, at the same time, ensuring a safer sealing function by reason ofthe fact that the flap elastic can be positioned in the groins of thewearer.

In one preferred embodiment, the width of the flaps in their narrowestpart will be smaller than 2 cm, while the width of the main-part of theabsorbent body in its narrowest section located in the crotch-part willbe at most 60% of the total width of the article in this sectionthereof, wherein the width of the flaps in their respective narrowestparts is smaller than half the width of the main-part of the absorbentbody in its narrowest section located in the crotch-part. The articlewill also preferably include longitudinal elastic elements which extendalong the side-edges of the article, at least in the crotch-part, onrespective sides of the longitudinal symmetry axis of the article, so asto form so-called leg elastic, wherein when the article is held flatwith the elastic elements stretched, the transverse distance between theouter limitation of the elastic elements that form said leg elastic andthe inner limitation of the longitudinal elastic elements along theedges of the side-flaps in the narrowest part of said flaps is smallerthan 3.5 cm. The longitudinal flaps in front and rear sections of thefront and rear parts of the article extend longitudinally up to thelongitudinal symmetry axis of the article and are joined together inthese sections. The inner and the outer casing sheets extend beyond theabsorbent body around the whole of its perimeter and are joined togetherat said parts which lie outside the absorbent body. When the article isheld flat with the elastic elements stretched, the side-flaps willextend beyond the side-edges of the outer casing sheet and will includethe longitudinally extending elastic elements that form leg elastic, andfastener devices which enable the side-edges of said article in saidfront and rear parts to be fastened together and therewith impart apants-like configuration to said article. The side-flaps also extendlongitudinally along the full length of the article. The foldingindications will preferably have a width of at least 2 times thethickness of the absorbent body.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention will now be described with reference to the accompanyingdrawings, in which

FIG. 1 illustrates a first embodiment of an inventive absorbent articlefrom above;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the article shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view taken on the line III—III in FIG. 2; and

FIG. 4 is a view similar to the view of FIG. 1 and illustrates a secondembodiment of an inventive article.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIGS. 1-3 illustrate a first embodiment of an inventive diaper orincontinence guard. FIG. 1 shows the diaper in a flat state, i.e. withthe elastic elements stretched, said diaper being held in this stateduring manufacture and prior to being packeted. FIGS. 2 and 3 show thediaper in a relaxed state, i.e. in the state assumed by the diaper whenremoved from its packet and before being placed on a diaper carrier.

The illustrated diaper includes an absorbent body 1 which is dividedinto a main-part 2 and two side-parts 3, 4, which are separated from themain-part by folding indications. The folding indications have a curvedshape, such that the main-part 2 will obtain an hourglass configuration.The absorbent body 1 is comprised of air-laid cellulose fluff, althoughit may, of course, be made of any absorbent material that is used in themanufacture of absorbent bodies in diapers or incontinence guards. Theabsorbent body may be comprised of one or more layers and may or may notinclude so-called superabsorbents.

The absorbent body 1 is enclosed conventionally between an outer casingsheet 5 of liquid-impermeable material, such as polyethylene plastic,and an inner, liquid-permeable casing sheet 6, which is preferablycomprised of nonwoven fabric. The outer and inner casing sheets may, ofcourse, be comprised of material other than polyethylene and nonwovenfabric respectively. The casing sheets 5, 6 extend beyond the absorbentbody 1 around the whole of its perimeter and are joined together atthose parts which lie outside said absorbent body.

In the illustrated embodiment, the folding indications between theside-parts 3, 4 and the main-part 2 of the absorbent body 1 are obtainedby separating the parts 3, 4 from the main-part 2 and separate therefromby means of a gap in which the casing sheets 5, 6 are joined together.Naturally, these folding indications may be provided in other ways, e.g.by forming compression strings.

Elastic elements 7, 8 extend along respective longitudinal edges of thediaper. As will be evident from FIG. 3, the elastic elements 7, 8 of theillustrated embodiment are comprised of three prestretched or tensionedelastic threads mounted between the casing sheets 5, 6 and fastenedthereto. Naturally, elastic ribbons or like devices can be used insteadof threads, and the number of elements in the diaper may vary.

The diaper also includes flexible flaps 9, 10 that extend along thelongitudinal edges of the diaper. These flaps are joined to the casingsheets 5, 6 along the longitudinal edges of the diaper and extend inover the inner casing sheet 6. The flaps 9, 10 are narrowest in thecrotch-part 11 and extend from a point in said crotch-part towardsrespective front-part 12 and rear-part 13 while increasing successivelyin width in towards the longitudinal symmetry axis A—A of the diaper. Inthe illustrated embodiment, the flaps 9, 10 reach the longitudinalsymmetry axis A—A at points slightly inwardly of the front and rearparts respectively, and extend from these points at a constant width upto the front-end and rear-end of the diaper respectively. The flaps arejoined together at these areas of constant width and thereby form ahole-embodying top sheet. Elastic threads or elastic tapes 14, 15 arefastened to the flaps 9, 10 along the curved sections of their innerlongitudinal edges.

The diaper also includes conventional fastener devices 16-19 forfastening together the side-edges of the front and the rear diaperparts, so as to obtain a diaper of pants-like configuration or forfastening the side-edges with the aid of a waist belt or like device.The fastener devices may be adhesive or mechanical. In the illustratedembodiment, the fastener devices are intended to coact with a waist beltand are fastened to the outer casing sheet and folded-in over the flaps9, 10.

All of the elastic devices 7, 8, 14 and 15 are mounted in a stretched ortensioned state. These devices will thus strive to contract from theirstretched state to a relaxed state. In the relaxed or non-loaded stateof the diaper, arises when a diaper is removed from its packet, theelastic devices 7, 8, 14, 15 will contract and therewith pucker theflexible sheets 5, 6, 9, 10 to which they are fastened. As the flaps 9,10 contract, the main-part 2 of the absorbent body 1 will curve and theside-parts 3, 4 of the absorbent body and the parts of the casing sheets5, 6 that lie outside the main-part 2 of said absorbent body will foldupwards, i.e. so that those parts of the inner casing sheet that coverthe inner surface of the side-parts 3, 4 will face towards each other.The stiffness or rigidity of the absorbent body 1 is such that thespring force exerted by the elastic devices will essentially only deformthe body 1 by bending. This can readily be achieved by appropriatecompression of a cellulose fluff body or with the aid of a multi-layerbody whose bottom layer is comprised of a stiffer material, which may ormay not be an absorbent material.

FIGS. 2 and 3 show the diaper of FIG. 1 in a relaxed state. As will beevident from these Figures, contraction of the flaps 9, 10 andassociated bending or curving of the main-part 2 of the absorbent body 1will cause the top sheet formed by said flaps to extend above and at adistance from the absorbent body 1. When the diaper is applied, thediaper is stretched slightly from the state shown in FIGS. 2 and 3,therewith increasing the spring force in the elastic elements. When thediaper has been applied, the elastic elements will therewith press thecurved edges of the flaps 9, 10 resiliently against the wearer's bodyand the longitudinal edges of the diaper against the wearer's thighs.The major part of the curvature of the main-part 2 of said body will,however, remain after having placed the diaper on the wearer, and themain-part of said diaper will be spaced from the wearer's body, inaddition to said ends.

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the diaper shown in FIG. 1, andillustrates the narrowest section of the main-part 2 in the crotch-partof said diaper. The main-part 2 is located furthest from the flaps 9, 10in this section. In order to enable the side-parts 3, 4 to be folded-upperpendicular to the plane of the main-part without deforming saidmain-part or said side-parts, the folding indications will have a widthwhich is equal to or greater than 2 times the thickness of the absorbentbody 1. This configuration will be maintained when putting on thediaper, provided that the width of the crotch of the diaper carriercoincides with the width of said main-part 2. The main-part 2 isdimensioned for a mean crotch-width value in the category of user forwhich the diaper is intended. The crotch width of small children willnormally lie between 3 to 4 cm, and in the case of adults between 4 to 7cm. The angle a between the main-part 2 of the absorbent body and theside-parts 3, 4 of an applied diaper will therefore deviate to arelatively small extent from a right angle in the case of a standingwearer. Larger angular deviations may occur, however, as the wearermoves his/her legs. In order to ensure that discharged liquid willalways be able to enter the space between the main-part 2 and the flaps9, 10 unobstructed by the flaps, the width of the flaps must not beexcessive in said crotch-part. The flaps will preferably not have agreater width than 2 cm at the place of the narrowest section of themain-part 2 of said absorbent body 1 in the crotch-part.

It has been found that the width of the main-part of the absorbent bodyin its narrowest section located in the crotch-part should be at most60% of the total width of the diaper or absorbent article in thissection, so as to achieve suitable bending or curving of the main-partand therewith hold the main-part distanced from the wearer's body over amajor part of the length of said main-part of the absorbent body.

In addition to holding the main-part 2 of the absorbent body 1 distancedfrom the wearer's body, the elastic elements 14, 15 in the flaps 9, 10are intended to press the flaps sealingly against the wearer's body andtherewith prevent urine or excretement from coming into contact withthat side of the flaps which lies against the wearer's body. It has beenobserved that an effective sealing function is achieved when the elasticelements of the flaps in the crotch-region are located in the wearer'sgroins. Such positioning prevents sideways movement of the flaps in thecrotch-region, irrespective of the external forces to which the diapermay be subjected as the wearer moves. The leg elastic 7, 8 shall also belocated in the vicinity of the wearer's groins in order to achieve anoptimal sealing function. In order to enable such application of theelastic element 7, 8, 14, 15, the smallest distance between the outerlimitations of the leg elastic 7, 8 and the inner limitations ofadjacent flap elastic 14 and 15 respectively shall not exceed 3.5 cmwhen the diaper is held flat. This positioning of the leg and flapelastic respectively will thus provide a double sealing function againstsideways leakage at the narrowest section of the diaper.

When large quantities of liquid are discharged simultaneously, as isoften the case with adult wearers, the absorbent body is unable toabsorb all of this liquid at once, and some of the liquid will thereforerun along the inner casing sheet towards the lowest part of the diaper.Consequently, when a diaper wearer lies on his/her side, there is a riskof liquid collecting at the long edge of the front or the rear part ofthe diaper. When the flaps are narrow at these parts of the diaper,there is a risk of liquid running over the edges of the flaps and outover said flaps. In order to greatly reduce this risk, the flaps 9, 10have their greatest width in these parts.

FIG. 4 shows a second embodiment of an inventive diaper. The soledifferences of the diaper shown in FIG. 4 and that shown in FIGS. 1-3 isthat the flaps 20, 21 of the FIG. 4 embodiment have parts that extendbeyond the longitudinal edges of the casing sheets, that the leg elastic22, 23 extends in these parts, and that the fastener devices 24-27 arefastened in said parts. The diaper is constructed in the same way as theaforedescribed diaper in other respects, and those components of theFIG. 4 embodiment that find correspondence in the embodiment shown inFIGS. 1-3 have been designated in FIG. 4 the same reference signs towhich a prime has been added. This embodiment is beneficial from theaspect of manufacture, since all elastic is disposed on one single sheetthat can be applied to the remainder of the diaper in a final stage ofmanufacture.

The flaps are made of a skin-friendly material, which may or may not beliquid-permeable. The flaps will preferably be comprised of anair-permeable material. An SMS material, i.e. a three-ply nonwovenmaterial that includes a sheet of meltblown-nonwoven between two sheetsof spunbond-nonwoven is an example of suitable material in this respect.Hydrophobic spunbond-nonwoven material is another example of materialthat can conceivably be used as flap material.

It will be understood that the described embodiments can be modifiedwithin the scope of the invention. For instance, the broadest parts ofthe flaps may have a width smaller than half the width of the diaper, ormay have an other arcuate shape so as not to reach the longitudinalsymmetry axis but to terminate in the end-edges of the diaper.Furthermore, the absorbent body may have a shape different to theillustrated rectangular shape in a flat state. It is also conceivable tomanufacture the side-parts of the absorbent body from a materialdifferent to the main-part, and the side-parts need not necessarily beabsorbent, even though this is preferred. Because of the deficientsealing function of the flaps, it is possible to omit leg elastic fromthe diaper, particularly when the flaps are made of liquid-impermeablematerial and form a top sheet as in the described embodiments. Theinventive article may also conceivably coact with a pair of elasticpants instead of with a waist belt. The invention is thereforerestricted solely by the scope of the following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. An absorbent article selected from the groupconsisting of a diaper and an incontinence guard, the article having alongitudinal symmetry axis and comprising: a front part, a rear part,and an intermediate crotch part; an absorbent body enclosed between anouter liquid-impermeable casing sheet having longitudinal edges and aninner liquid-permeable casing sheet; longitudinal side flaps located onrespective sides of the longitudinal symmetry axis and extendingtransversely in towards said axis; longitudinal elastic elementsextending along inner edges of the side flaps that face towards thelongitudinal symmetry axis; said absorbent body having side edges andbeing divided into a central part and two side parts at least in saidcrotch part by folding indications which are located on respective sidesof the longitudinal symmetry axis in front and rear sections and whichdiverge relative to one another up to the side edges of the absorbentbody; said side flaps being joined to the outer casing sheet along itslongitudinal edges; each of the side flaps extending from a point in thecrotch part inside of the article inwardly towards the longitudinalsymmetry axis while decreasing in distance from said axis towards thefront part and the rear part respectively up to a point in respectivefront and rear parts; and said side flaps being planar and without foldswhen the elastic elements are stretched and the article is held in astretched state.
 2. The absorbent article according to claim 1, whereinthe side flaps have a narrowest part which has a width of less than 2cm.
 3. The absorbent article according to claim 2, wherein the centralpart of said absorbent body has a narrowest section located in saidcrotch part; said narrowest section having a width which corresponds toat most 60% of a total width of the article in said section.
 4. Theabsorbent article according to claim 3, wherein the width of the sideflaps in their narrowest parts is smaller than half the width of thenarrowest section of said central part of the absorbent body located insaid crotch part.
 5. The absorbent article according to claim 2, furthercomprising longitudinal elastic devices which extend along side edges ofsaid article, at least in the crotch part thereof, on respective sidesof the longitudinal symmetry axis so as to form leg elastic, when thearticle is held flat with the elastic elements and elastic devicesstretched, the transversal distance between an outer limitation of theelastic devices and an inner limitation of adjacent elastic elementsextending longitudinally along the edges of the side flaps in thenarrowest part of the flaps is smaller than 3.5 cm.
 6. The absorbentarticle according to claim 1, wherein the longitudinally extending sideflaps in front and rear sections of the front and rear parts of thearticle extend right up to the longitudinal symmetry axis and aremutually joined in these sections.
 7. The absorbent article according toclaim 1, wherein the inner and outer casing sheets extend beyond theabsorbent body around the whole of its perimeter and are mutually joinedat parts which lie outside the absorbent body.
 8. The absorbent articleaccording to claim 1, wherein when the article is held flat with theelastic elements stretched, the side flaps extend beyond thelongitudinal edges of the outer casing sheet and include longitudinalelastic devices forming leg elastic, said article further comprisingfastener devices that enable side edges of the article in said front andrear part to be joined together to obtain an article of pants-shapedconfiguration.
 9. The absorbent article according to claim 1, whereinthe side flaps extend along a full length of the article in alongitudinal direction.
 10. The absorbent article according to claim 1,wherein the folding indications have a width that corresponds at leastto the square root of 2 times the thickness of the absorbent body in cm.11. An absorbent article selected from the group consisting of a diaperand an incontinence guard, the article having a longitudinal symmetryaxis and comprising: a front part, a rear part, and an intermediatecrotch part; an absorbent body enclosed between an outerliquid-impermeable casing sheet having longitudinal edges and an innerliquid-permeable casing sheet; longitudinal side flaps located onrespective sides of the longitudinal symmetry axis and extendingtransversely in towards said axis; longitudinal elastic elementsextending along inner edges of the side flaps that face towards thelongitudinal symmetry axis; said absorbent body having side edges andbeing divided into a central part and two side parts at least in saidcrotch part by folding indications which are located on respective sidesof the longitudinal symmetry axis in front and rear sections and whichdiverge relative to one another up to the side edges of the absorbentbody; said side flaps being joined to the outer casing sheet along itslongitudinal edges; each of the side flaps extending from a point in thecrotch part inside of the article inwardly towards the longitudinalsymmetry axis while decreasing in distance from said axis towards thefront part and the rear part respectively up to a point in respectivefront and rear parts; and wherein the side flaps have a narrowest partwhich has a width of less than 2 cm.